Glogster

So here's my thought: I love art and I love poetry.  I love the way that each person looks at art differently and I love ho each poem speaks to individuals in a new way.  When I look at art, my initial feeling is a desire to curl up with a notebook and pen, to grab a mug of hot cocoa, and to write all the emotions in my heart.  Writing it all out helps me vocalize, I think, the overload of images I am seeing.  Even when the painting appears, at first, to be only a simple red square in a sea of blue, I am immediately pulled into a deeper thought process.  I always want to question where that painting came from--not the date or the place, but the emotion and the situation.  I want to know what inspired the painter, and I want to feel the same thing myself.  Because I am no good at creating visual art by myself, my method for expression of emotions is the written word.  Through my writing--particularly through poetry--I can bring out all the wonders and beauties of the earth.  I can recreate a memory of happiness.  I can frighten anyone burdened with guilt.  I can ecompass all the glories of a serene life.  I can do anything I want with my words...just like an artist can do with his paint.

Here's the connection: I've been working quite a bit with my students this term on poetry and on expressing emotions through poetry.  My students are astounding me with their depth and vision.  We did one activity two weeks ago where students were able to look at six different pictures (some, photos of people, others, modern art, others, paintings of nature) and write poems to describe the scenes and the emotions they feel as they look at those particular scenes.  They loved it!  So for my final project in IP&T 286, I want to have the students create another poem, applying their own art to the background.

I have really enjoyed the things that I've seen on Glogster thus far, and I think it's a really neat website that allows students to be creative in a myriad of ways.  Because we're reading "The Giver" right now, I'd like the students to create a poem about the novel.  The poem will need to describe the emotions and feelings of the community, and it will be accompanied by some equally descriptive artwork.  The poster, then, will be the final project for the novel.  Students will need to have paid close attention to the emotions and sentiments in the story, and by the end of their reading, they will compile their findings into a freewrite. That freewrite will then be transformed into a poem with accompanying artwork.  We will take the time to review figurative language, sensory writing, and the importance of answering W-Questions.  Poems will need to be 14 lines long (5 for the 5 senses, 6 for W-Questions, and 3 for figurative language).  With the length of their poems filling the poster, artwork can either be a background scene or can be a picture put around the bottom or on the side of the poem itself.  Some students may choose to keep their posters plain black or plain white or plain red, as simple color has been a focus in our class the last few weeks.  However, they will be required to justify their decisions in a written reflection turned in with their Glogster posters.

I'm really excited about doing this kind of project.  I've never used Glogster, and even now I feel a little unsure about how well it will go for me.  However, I'm willing to try it all out, just like I'd expect the students to do.  I'm nervous about how easily it will come for some students, but I feel confident that with help from one another, the students really will understand and be able to complete the assignment.